Makeo Sobo
“The world may still need me, but I no longer need the world. Surely the peace and harmony I found in my passing is just as valid as anyone else’s. But if my intervention is needed to assure the prosperity of the future, if my hand is one of the few that can steer this multiverse in the proper direction—one inclusive of all paths, and untilted by mortal perceptions of good and evil—then give me a son. Do not cast me back into this mortal coil, for I have ascended beyond it, but carry my essence and create one who has not. Grant me a son to walk in my shadow, yet shine so brightly that he creates one of his own. He shall be their guide, and a better one than I ever could be. There will be many like him, and oft he will forget his uniqueness. But this is for the best, because for one to lead the people of these worlds, they must first understand them.” —Amedayis Xiu Character Overview An undead hunter and sorcerer monk. Makeo Sobo, also known as Nightraven, is a master of the occultist malefices based on death, the soul, and its various transitions throughout the spiritual hierarchy. He has perfected some monastic teachings surrounding these concepts (referred to as Ways), and has balanced his efforts with a deadly martial art derived from years of study (known as Blackfist), which works in tandem with the somatic contortion shadows. Personality Makeo believes in freedom of action, that everyone should be free to do what they will so long as they are able to face the consequences of their actions. While you are free to steal and murder, this freedom does not protect you from someone wanting to defend themselves and their families from said efforts. He believes that nature has a way of correcting itself, as the establishment of laws, moral values and such are products of nature themselves. Surely they would be recreated with time but with a deeper respect for them, having experienced why they are necessary. Rather than following set laws and traditions, however, he believes in allowing natural individual responses to situations teach lessons. Law is not his restriction, wisdom is. Makeo dislikes the closed minded. Those who are too stubborn to change or that project their own stubbornness to him. Lawful Characters While he respects a person who stands for what they believe, he feels as if a character who follows laws or moral codes they have not fully explored their concept, and are misguided souls masquerading as the most guided ones, unbeknownst to their own folly. Most people are conditioned to understand right from wrong rather than coming to the conclusion themselves, and Makeo believes this to be a bad thing. Without the ability to come to your own conclusion between what is right and wrong, one that was not disciplined into you by a society, do you truly know the difference? Evil Characters A necessary thing to balance its cosmic counterpart. Self interest is the largest sin of man, and even so it is such a deep rooted thing that it is impossible to escape. To Makeo, evil characters are closer to being logical than the good most times. Makeo doesn’t believe evil to be bad, but as with everything, balance is necessary. Good Characters Good characters can be great company, despite his disagreements with them. Having a moral compass that steers you in the direction of a greater good is something that can be respected; but chastising others for not sharing it is not. Neigong, Qinggong, and the Secret Arts The wushu, or martial arts, practiced by the Wulin are as varied as their clans. Skills are passed from master to student as they prove themselves worthy. Schools can specialize in hand to hand, swords, staves and other weaponry, and even more supernatural skills. Some skills, however, are well known among all the practicing schools of Wulin. Neigong (“nay-gong”), or “internal skill”, is the ability to focus qi (“chee”) or energy to heighten speed, strength, and stamina and even grant healing powers. Another mainstay of Wuxia is Qinggong (“ching-gong”), or “lightness skill”, which nearly circumvents gravity, allowing martial artists to propel themselves high into the air, to run up walls, or to even run across water. Dianxue (literally "touching acupuncture points"): Characters use various acupuncture techniques to kill, paralyse, immobilise or even manipulate opponents by attacking their acupressure points with their bare hands or weapons. Such techniques can also be used for healing purposes, such as halting excessive bleeding. Secret Art: Blackfist Makeo is a master of martial arts, having an expanse of training so vast that he seems to be at the very least familiar with any weapon tossed into his hands. During his tutelage with the Shado Pan, he was taught how to use the chi he cultivated for his strikes to influence the shadows as well. And with practice, it evolved into a mastery of shadow manipulation that takes a visual similarity to the bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender. '''The manipulation of shadows was only a surface talent though, for as his knowledge grew deeper, he found their association to illusions, adopting them into his repertoire as well. Visually, Blackfist takes the appearance of the dramatized wushu displayed in old Wuxia, It is heavily inspired by ancient chinese Kung Fu, but also welcomes some movements and techniques from other styles as well. '''History Origins Makeo is the spiritual incarnation of Amedayis Xiu, a Pandaren Windwalker renown for his combat skills across all of Pandaria. He was created as the result of a bargain his father made with two Psychopomps, who didn’t believe it was quite his time to pass yet. But his father, Amedayis, accepted his passing with the resolve that his own death could allow enough space in the world for the birth of another, and with such a cycle of life and death being maintained, all things could be in balance. To him, coming back would be unnatural because he had already left that existence and began to explore the wonders of the next. There would not be that same starry-eyed wanderlust were he to leave it again. The psychopomps begrudgingly agreed to his statement, and a decided to strike a bargain, from It coming Makeo, woven of both the essence of this ancestor, and the will of the shepherds of death themselves. He never experienced infancy; infact, the first thing he saw was a wanted poster which read “Mak Sobo”, and he simply added “eo” to the name and took it to be his own. He was incarnated into the multiverse as an 8 year old pandaren, with no notably different features than any other but his strong sense of self. But as he got older, he realized he was in fact very different than some. He could see and speak to spirits, and as time progressed further he learned to draw aspects—such as memories, languages and experiences—from these souls, and the souls of others. This came in handy, because this xenoglossy allowed him to easily communicate with the people he encountered in his nomadic lifestyle. Way of The August Celestials One cannot live in Pandaria without hearing the tales of the August Celestials, these great and magnificent Wild Gods who assisted in the liberation of Pandaria from the Sha by instilling the Wisdom and Virtue necessary to overcome it into the heroes charged with fighting them. For centuries, there have been hundreds of schools created in the likeness of their teachings, but unlike other creatures of similar status, they readily make themselves available to the mortals that cross into their country. Makeo spent years meditating on the wisdoms they granted, yet just as equally providing his own ideas or disagreements whenever the concept of right and wrong was presented. While he was surely grateful for their tutelage, he couldn’t shake how hypocritical such claims were to him. Most masters would strip someone of their training if they dared to question them. But rather than responding from anger in this way, these creatures simply took what he said and accepted their fault. It was unbelievable, really, and certainly unexpected. It made sense then; True wisdom is not dictating dogmatic proverbs, it also involved accepting that those same proverbs are sometimes flawed. He also spent this time most importantly sharpening his Martial Arts and Spirit(chi) Abilities, which surprisingly he was a natural to. Perhaps from the influence of his ancestry, but each step other students took forward seemed to have only brang them over a hill, so that they could have a great view of him leaving them in the dust. Over the course of 20 years he had broken the student threshold, and had donned the basic mastery of his training at this point in his life, which included the common teachings of Wulin.